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Satoshi Ishii
Satoshi Ishii (born December 19, 1986) is a Japanese judoka and mixed martial artist noted for winning a gold medal in Olympic Judo at the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, China, a silver medal at the 2006 Asian Games and two All-Japan Judo Championships. Ishii made his professional MMA debut at Dynamite!! 2009 losing to fellow Judoka gold medalist Hidehiko Yoshida by unanimous decision, but currently holds a record of 12-2-1.Olympic judo champ Ishii defeated in mixed martial arts debut | The Japan Times Online. Search.japantimes.co.jp (2010-01-02). Retrieved on 2010-09-28. Judo career Ishii won a gold medal at the Junior World Championships on 16 October 2004 in Budapest, Hungary. On 2 December 2006 he won a silver medal at the −100 kg category of the 2006 Asian Games. On April 29, 2006 and 2008, he won the All-Japan Judo Championships in Tokyo, Japan. With him the Japanese team won the World Judo team competition on 17 November 2007 in Beijing, China, this time in the +100 kg division. On August 15, 2008 he won a gold medal at the +100 kg category of the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, China. On 30 April 2011 Ishii returned to Judo to compete in the United States Championship in the open division; he won all the matches, securing the gold medal. Mixed martial arts career After winning the gold medal, Ishii expressed his wishes to apply his talents in the sport of mixed martial arts (MMA) to the dismay of the Japanese Judo Federation. Ishii originally confirmed that he signed a contract with Japanese MMA promotion Fighting and Entertainment Group (FEG) and was rumored to debut in early 2009 in their fight series, DREAM. Japanese newspaper Sports Nippon then reported that Ishii would make his ring debut on December 31, 2009 at the annual K-1 Premium Dynamite!! event at the Saitama Super Arena. However, Ishii announced that he rejected FEG's offer, and was planning to pursue his MMA career in the US' Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He headed to Florida where he trained with two of MMA's top camps American Top Team and Xtreme Couture.Olympic Judo gold medalist Satoshi Ishi headed for American Top Team, MMA Mania, 17 December 2007 On June 1, 2009, Ishii announced he would join Japanese MMA organization World Victory Road.Ishii Signs with Sengoku. Sherdog.com. Retrieved on 2010-09-28. He officially signed with the organization at a public signing event on June 4, 2009.Holland, Jesse. (2009-06-01) Olympic gold medalist Satoshi Ishii passes on UFC to join World Victory Road. MMA Mania. Retrieved on 2010-09-28. On September 14, 2009, it was announced that Ishii would make his MMA debut against fellow Olympic Judo gold medalist Hidehiko Yoshida.Nelson, Chris. (2009-09-14) Satoshi Ishii to Make MMA Debut Against Hidehiko Yoshida. Bloody Elbow. Retrieved on 2010-09-28. Although the fight was originally to take place at World Victory Road's New Year show on December 31, when that event was cancelled, the fight was moved to DREAM's Dynamite!! 2009 card on New Year's Eve as a co-promoted show.Dream Official Website. Dreamofficial.com. Retrieved on 2010-09-28. Ishii, who was a large favorite in the fight, was dominated in the first round by the more-experienced Yoshida, taking many strikes including a right overhand that staggered the newcomer, along with a series of knees and uppercuts from the clinch. Ishii, however, came back with a more competitive second round, but took a point deduction after illegally kneeing Yoshida in the groin. Ishii continued to find his range in the third round with punches, but ultimately lost via unanimous decision. For his second fight, Ishii faced New Zealand Heavyweight kickboxing champion Tafa "Thumper" Misipati on May 15, 2010 in Auckland, New Zealand. The fight was the main event at the ETK production X-plosion: New Zealand vs. Japan. Ishii won via submission (armbar) in the first round. In June 2010, Ishii caused controversy during an MMA exhibition match on the undercard of X-1 World Events: Nations Collide in Hawaii. After knocking down his opponent Myles Tynanes at the end of the first-round, Ishii failed to stop punching his downed foe despite the referee’s attempts to halt the action. He was subsequently disqualified for his actions. On September 25, 2010, Ishii fought Ikuhisa Minowa, a shoot wrestler known for facing much larger opponents, at Dream 16 and won via unanimous decision.Ikuhisa Minowa to Face Satoshi Ishii at DREAM.16. MMA Fighting (2010-09-22). Retrieved on 2010-09-28. Ishii's next MMA fight was supposed to be against Antz Nansen at the K-1 World MAX 2010. However, his opponent was changed to Katsuyori Shibata at the last minute. Ishii won via Kimura in the first round. Ishii continued to train with Black House, in Brazil with notable fighters such as Lyoto Machida and Anderson Silva. Prior to Silva's fight with Chael Sonnen, Ishii hurt Silva's ribs. Since then he has train at Mark Munoz's gym Reign MMA, along with Jason Miller, Fabricio Werdum and other notable fighters. Ishii then fought French Kickboxing star Jerome Le Banner in a mixed martial arts bout at the Dynamite!! 2010 New Year's Eve event. He won the fight via unanimous decision. Ishii was scheduled to make his North America debut for Strikeforce at Strikeforce Challengers 15 against Scott Lighty, but a visa issue stemming from the recent earthquake and tsunami left him unable to leave Japan. Lorenz Larkin took his place in the fight. In April 2011, it was reported that Ishii would retire from MMA and return to Judo. Surprisingly, he also stated that he plans to earn American citizenship and represent the US at the 2016 Olympic Games. However, he apparently decided against retiring from Mixed martial arts as he went on to face former WEC Middleweight Champion Paulo Filho at Amazon Forest Combat 1 on September 14, 2011 in his Lightheavyweight debut. The fight ended in a controversial draw, with journalists as well as the crowd agreeing that Ishii had won all three rounds.Ueda Retires Gracie, Ishii Robbed Against Filho at Amazon FC. Sherdog.com. Retrieved on 2011-11-26. Satoshi Ishii next competed at Fight For Japan: Genki Desu Ka Omisoko 2011, where he met MMA legend Fedor Emelianenko. He lost the fight via KO in the first round. After taking a year off from fighting to train following the Emelianenko loss, Ishii signed an exclusive multi fight deal with IGF in Japan. Here he has secured 6 victories in less than a year against former UFC Heavyweight Champion Tim Sylvia, UFC veterans Sean McCorkle, Kerry Schall, Pedro Rizzo and most recently against Jeff Monson. Ishii then faced Kazuyuki Fujita on December 31, 2013, for the IGF Championship. He won via unanimous decision. Ishii then went on to defeat UFC veteran Philip De Fries via unanimous decision at Inoki Genome Fight 1 on April 5, 2014. Personal life He was married for 9 months to Mika, a university student, divorcing in January 2011. 石井慧離婚　女子大生とたったの９カ月. March 29, 2011 Ishii holds a 6th dan in judo and he was awarded a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu after some training. Championships and accomplishments Professional wrestling *'Inoki Genome Federation' **IGF Championship (2 time, current) Mixed martial arts record References External links * Category:1986 births Category:Heavyweight mixed martial artists Category:Japanese mixed martial artists Category:Japanese practitioners of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Category:Japanese judoka Category:Living people Category:Light heavyweight mixed martial artists